1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a tool for opening and closing bottles containing beverages such as wine or champagne, more particularly, to a multi-function tool designed to facilitate extracting cork from beverage bottles and preserving beverage in partially consumed bottles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bottles containing fermented or carbonated beverages such as wine or champagne are typically closed and sealed by a cork stopper made of natural or synthetic materials. Tools such as corkscrews have been developed for extracting the cork stopper from such bottles prior to consumption. While corkscrews are commonly used for removing corks from wine bottles, there are drawbacks associated with conventional corkscrews. If the coil of the corkscrew is not centered properly while being inserted into the cork, the corkscrew can cause the cork to chip and disintegrate. Moreover, insertion of the corkscrew into the cork is not a simple process as it requires one to apply force to cause the metal coil to penetrate into the cork all the while making sure that the coil is centered relative to the cork. In addition to the corkscrew, another type of known cork extractor operates by injecting air via a needle-like device through the cork into the bottle. The increased air pressure inside the bottle would in turn eject the cork. While the air pressure based cork extractors are easier to operate as compared to the corkscrew, they are typically single-function bar accessory tools that must be purchased individually and take up separate storage space.
Once the cork is removed, the wine is exposed to oxygen in the air and thus becomes susceptible to oxidation. It is generally known that prolonged exposure to oxygen can detrimentally affect the quality and flavor of the wine. Wine that remains in a partially consumed bottle can quickly deteriorate in taste even if the bottle is recorked. This is often due to the wine being oxidized by oxygen that entered the bottle when the cork was removed. In an effort to preserve partially consumed wine, various vacuum sealers have been developed to remove air from the headspace of the bottle after recorking so as to minimize oxidation of the wine. The conventional vacuum sealer assemblies typically utilize a hand pump working in conjunction with a specially designed stopper fitted with a one-way valve to evacuate air from the bottle. The hand pump usually operates by moving a piston through the bore of a cylinder to evacuate air from the bottle. The piston itself also acts as a release valve to adjust the pressure differential inside the cylinder so that the piston can be easily moved back and forth in the bore.
The conventional vacuum sealers direct air to flow in a reverse direction as that of the aforementioned air pressure based cork extractor. The vacuum sealer operates to pump air out of the wine bottle while the air pressure based cork extractor functions to introduce air into the bottle to pressurize the bottle. The reversed directions of air flow would typically require separate air passageways and pump systems, which make it not feasible to combine both tools into a single, compact device. As such, these tools are usually configured as separate, individual units that would have to be purchased and stored separately.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that there is a need for a compact, unitary, multi-function device for opening and closing wine, champagne, or other beverage bottles. To this end, there is a particular need for a single, compact tool that can effectively serve the functions of both a cork extractor and a vacuum sealer.